This invention relates to weaving heddles for looms; specifically to removable weaving heddles and a corresponding insertion tool to aid installation of the heddle in a shaft assembly of a weaving loom: a single insertion tool serving to install many loom heddles.
The current trend in heddle design requires the warp to be inserted through the eye of each and every heddle and then through the individual reed elements before the tensioning of each warp element can be implemented. If a mistake is made in this initial process the entire warping sequence is subject to re-threading which is a time consuming process. The average 30″ weaving width loom will have as many as 450 heddles to sequence without making a single mistake. This process is one of the fundamental impediments to attracting new weavers to the hobby of weaving.
The removable plastic heddle solves part of the problem of having to re-thread the entire warp by allowing a heddle to be transferred from one movable shaft to a different shaft or eliminating the heddle entirely. The removal and installation of the heddle must be a simple process that is not, in itself, time consuming.
A further advantage of the removable heddle is the potential for switching shafts during the weaving process which allows changing patterns in adjacent weaving increments. This has the potential of making small looms with limited shafts appear to function as though they had extra shafts. This process can be done without disturbing the sequential warp placement in the reed.